Greek. She has Caesar.”
Sorceress Thrace held out her arms. “I shall have to circumvent all the gods of all the farms and cities, then.”
“Where else is there?”
Sorceress Thrace answered, “In the wild places we will find our answer. As wild as the mountain bird nest of the phoenix!”
~
Outside on the steps of the Palace of Alexandria, facing the seaside market plaza, Octavian stood with Phaedra. He said to her, “I’ll leave you with my ugly centurion while I visit with the pharaoh.”
“An ugly centurion?”
Octavian grinned ominously. “Then I won’t have to feel jealous thoughts about you while I visit with little Ptolemy.”
Phaedra looked out over the busy plaza. “It looks so exciting. I’ve never seen such a big market like this before… and by the sea! Big, big, everything here is so big! Is it dangerous?”
“Nope. Make yourself at home, the market here works just like in Rome. Here’s some denarius.” He handed her ten silver coins. “Buy a treat for me too. Just keep your centurion at the edge of the plaza at all times if you should go beyond it so I can find you again when I’m done.”
“Why would I leave the plaza? By the gods why would I leave the centurion at the edge?”
Octavian explained, “There’s a library just up the shore from the market if you’re so curious about that. It’s big too. It’s much bigger than the usual temple library. It’s a library to science. The libraries in Rome are better though, of course. This city is an unorganized mess.”
She agreed with him that Rome is always best.
Alexandria was the largest and most organized walled city in the world. It was laid out in a grid. Much of the city broke up into ethnic neighborhoods that were prosperous and had their own temples. The dominant Greek neighborhood was at the sea for the most monumental structures of the palace, forum, temples to Greek gods, library, public theater, public gymnasium, and tomb of Alexander the Great.
He continued, “Alexandria is the only thing civilized this side of the sea, I suppose, so I should remember to appreciate it more for what it is.” He glared north to the sea, past the market plaza, to the harbor that was capable of holding twenty-four hundred ships at once. On a small nearby island, the lighthouse was over four hundred feet tall so could easily be seen from where they were.
When Alexander the Great founded Alexandria it was a small port town called Rhakotis. He wanted to use it for strategic military reasons because it faced the Mediterranean Sea, a link to his many empires. He didn’t care about a town, beyond the harbor. The first Ptolemy decided to make it a Greek city to rival Athens. He especially wanted a library that would rival the great Library of Athens.
Phaedra asked, “Anybody can walk into the library?”
Octavian looked fierce. “If they think you’re from Rome they better let you walk all over it, anywhere on the grounds, and do as you damn well please over there. If anybody questions you anywhere, tell them you’ll report it to your host, Octavian, and they’ll bow fast enough to crack their skulls.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to all that.”
He grinned. “It never gets old seeing people bow so fast.”
Phaedra said she’d prefer to see the market. A centurion was assigned to her who had a bad scar across his nose. A slave woman was also sent along. Phaedra walked from the palace steps to the market plaza that was set out in straight rows. She asked the maidservant, “I wonder where the interesting things are?”
The maidservant shrugged.
Phaedra pushed up on her rolled hair. “Just keep an eye out for my hairpins. I feel like I’m ready to fall apart. This land is so strange yet everything has been built to look familiar. Do you see that too?”
The maidservant nodded.
“But here, as I see everything so grand, organized and busy, I feel it all falling apart. I wonder why I feel that. I have such a
Sorceress Thrace held out her arms. “I shall have to circumvent all the gods of all the farms and cities, then.”
“Where else is there?”
Sorceress Thrace answered, “In the wild places we will find our answer. As wild as the mountain bird nest of the phoenix!”
~
Outside on the steps of the Palace of Alexandria, facing the seaside market plaza, Octavian stood with Phaedra. He said to her, “I’ll leave you with my ugly centurion while I visit with the pharaoh.”
“An ugly centurion?”
Octavian grinned ominously. “Then I won’t have to feel jealous thoughts about you while I visit with little Ptolemy.”
Phaedra looked out over the busy plaza. “It looks so exciting. I’ve never seen such a big market like this before… and by the sea! Big, big, everything here is so big! Is it dangerous?”
“Nope. Make yourself at home, the market here works just like in Rome. Here’s some denarius.” He handed her ten silver coins. “Buy a treat for me too. Just keep your centurion at the edge of the plaza at all times if you should go beyond it so I can find you again when I’m done.”
“Why would I leave the plaza? By the gods why would I leave the centurion at the edge?”
Octavian explained, “There’s a library just up the shore from the market if you’re so curious about that. It’s big too. It’s much bigger than the usual temple library. It’s a library to science. The libraries in Rome are better though, of course. This city is an unorganized mess.”
She agreed with him that Rome is always best.
Alexandria was the largest and most organized walled city in the world. It was laid out in a grid. Much of the city broke up into ethnic neighborhoods that were prosperous and had their own temples. The dominant Greek neighborhood was at the sea for the most monumental structures of the palace, forum, temples to Greek gods, library, public theater, public gymnasium, and tomb of Alexander the Great.
He continued, “Alexandria is the only thing civilized this side of the sea, I suppose, so I should remember to appreciate it more for what it is.” He glared north to the sea, past the market plaza, to the harbor that was capable of holding twenty-four hundred ships at once. On a small nearby island, the lighthouse was over four hundred feet tall so could easily be seen from where they were.
When Alexander the Great founded Alexandria it was a small port town called Rhakotis. He wanted to use it for strategic military reasons because it faced the Mediterranean Sea, a link to his many empires. He didn’t care about a town, beyond the harbor. The first Ptolemy decided to make it a Greek city to rival Athens. He especially wanted a library that would rival the great Library of Athens.
Phaedra asked, “Anybody can walk into the library?”
Octavian looked fierce. “If they think you’re from Rome they better let you walk all over it, anywhere on the grounds, and do as you damn well please over there. If anybody questions you anywhere, tell them you’ll report it to your host, Octavian, and they’ll bow fast enough to crack their skulls.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to all that.”
He grinned. “It never gets old seeing people bow so fast.”
Phaedra said she’d prefer to see the market. A centurion was assigned to her who had a bad scar across his nose. A slave woman was also sent along. Phaedra walked from the palace steps to the market plaza that was set out in straight rows. She asked the maidservant, “I wonder where the interesting things are?”
The maidservant shrugged.
Phaedra pushed up on her rolled hair. “Just keep an eye out for my hairpins. I feel like I’m ready to fall apart. This land is so strange yet everything has been built to look familiar. Do you see that too?”
The maidservant nodded.
“But here, as I see everything so grand, organized and busy, I feel it all falling apart. I wonder why I feel that. I have such a
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